One of our black bamboo bent into an arch over our side gate. Wisteria trained up it. Fine until some neighbour wants high access.
Wisteria arch
Tag: garden
courgette flowers
Three of the courgette plants were flowering this morning. Maybe they appreciated the compost that Lola and I took out there on Saturday. We also put some on the tomatoes and cucumbers. This was our own compost, which I also put around the tomatoes in the greenhouse.
Stuff in the allotment is coming on; beans growing, though they still look a bit pale, tomatoes look settled. Potatoes coming on well though no flowers yet and really need weeding every day. Found bindweed wrapped around one this morning.
In other news, this weekend saw me angle-grinding the three steel washing-line poles down and putting up the new rotary line. The view down the garden being dramatically improved in the process. Then finished off the decorating of the corner of the spare room, erected the bed and cut the slats to length. And made some mint syrup.
Stefi and Sofia arrive Friday – still loads to do.
And Danny of next-door-but-one fell off his bike outside our house and broke his arm. Very painful but a simple fracture and he was his usual cheery, albeit somewhat monodextrous, self the next day.
planting out
Planted tomatoes in greenhouse borders: 5 San Marzano on the right (Ali’s side), 4 F1 Incas down the left. Should bung a bit of my compost around them; nice foody mulch.
This morning, planted 6 of the Incas in the allotment. The beans, courgettes and cucumber are looking healthier, greener. I put a general food in their water; also sprinkled some blood, fish and bone on them yesterday. Beans are starting to throw out climbers, though they have yet to find the canes.
What is that weed that I am pulling out every day only to find it reappearing by the next morning? Oh, it appears to be Field Bindweed. So I’ve got Hedge Bindweed down with the potatoes, and Field Bindweed up the top with the squashes. Super.
squashes and beans
Planted out the courgettes and cucumber in the bricked-in beds at the top of the plot. No support at the moment; must add some cane later for them to clamber up.
Planted out the beans: two rows of the Italian bean (Fiocco) and two rows of the French (Blue Lake).
Back in the greenhouse, I repotted several of the San Marzono and Inco tomatoes. Left some of them in the trays, as they were a bit small and, anyway, I have plenty.
Also planted the clematis down by the fence by Anabel’s house.
frostings
This morning the first frost of the year visited the back garden ;I could feel it under my feet as I went to fetch my bike. Now I’m traveling through a mist-hung, pink-tinged morning on the way to work. It really is quite stunning, despite my trite and clichéd description.
It’s been an excellent weekend, with a lot of stuff done with a minimum of stress. We painted the inside of the understairs area; took the door off the washer/dryer cupboard and painted that (three coats of heavy, black, tar-like paint which will turn it into a magnetic blackboard. Hm, I don’t mean magnetic, I mean attractive to magnets), and sanded down the inside of the front door, removing that awful maroon stain.
I got out in the garden with the girls. Took down the beans, cleared leaves, tied back the crysanthemums, dug over some beds. On Sunday, I got over to the allotment, cleared some of the top end and finished pulling the tall weeds. Will I double-dig? We shall see.
We got out on the bikes briefly on Saturday, but only to pop down to Mill Road to do some washing in the laundrette; then back home for a quick pasta before Isa went off to the cinema with Ally to watch the new Mike Leigh film. She came back all sentimental, so it must be good.
great, turgid cucumbers
That’s what I’ve got — and loads of them. There must be a dozen cucumbers approaching ripeness on the two plants that Lola was given by the woman at the allotments. And then there are the six lemon cucumber plants that I grew from seed: they are flowering now and should start fruiting soon. Doubtless, in fact, they will do so while we are down in Somerset next week (funny how Lola and Neve end up having “Grandma in Somerset” and just like Tom and I did).
Holidays present as somewhat more problematic now that one is a keen vegetable gardener. While we are gone, the tomatoes, peppers, french beans, cucumbers, and lettuce will all be cropping, and the rest may need watering and weeding. Tricky business.